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The Oldest Alfa Romeo

1921 Alfa Romeo G1

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 18-19, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Alfa Romeo traces its roots back to the Italian Darracq company that was founded in 1906. That company became Societa Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, or A.L.F.A., in 1910. During the First World War, Nicola Romeo became the director of A.L.F.A. and after the war he changed the name of the company to Alfa Romeo.

The new company’s first model was designed by longtime Alfa designer Giuseppe Merosi. Introduced in 1921, the G1 as it was called, was built in limited numbers through 1923 before being replaced by the more popular RL. It should also be noted that there were a few A.L.F.A.-branded G1s that made it out of the factory before the branding switched.

The G1 is powered by a 6.3-liter straight-six making 70 horsepower, quite a decent amount for its day. This car sports a racer’s body, having been most recently restored in 2000. It’s early years were spent on a farm in Australia before being rescued in the 1960s and it’s remained in the collection of New Zealand’s Alfa importer for some time.

Only 52 examples of the G1 were ever built and this is the only one known to exist, making it the oldest Alfa Romeo-branded automobile in the world. It should bring more than a million dollars when it goes under the hammer in January. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.